Beach hotel security guard: “Everybody was unruly”

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Virginia Beach, Va. - Stabbings, shootings, and robberies hit the Resort City over the weekend.

Now, Beach police are working to find out who's responsible, and how to get the Oceanfront ready for the summer rush.

Beach police say they had 325 calls to their 911 center this weekend from the Oceanfront. They also arrested 148 people and 181 charges were filed.

NewsChannel 3 spoke to several business owners after this past weekend's violence.

They were expecting a busy weekend, as thousands of college students were coming for College Beach Weekend. But they did not anticipate the violence.

A violent start to the vacation season after Beach police responded to three shootings, three stabbings, and four robberies in a six hour span at the Oceanfront. Fortunately, police say all of the victims are going to recover. But now workers and business owners are concerned after the chaos this weekend.

"It was just massive people all over the place and everybody was unruly," says Mac McClure, hotel security guard. He became overwhelmed Saturday night with the large crowds - despite his nearly 30 years of experience as a security guard at the beach.

"At one point, I had everybody down to the first floor, and I started shuffling out the back door, and I had people in front of me, people in back of me, and I ended up getting hit in the head."

All of these incidents, according to Beach police, happened between 17th Street and 33rd Street, including a fight in front of a pizza restaurant - caught on video.

Beach dispatchers say there were extra officers patrolling Atlantic Avenue, but the chaos continued into early Sunday morning. Several workers and business owners tell NewsChannel 3 that they are now worried about this past weekend affecting their bottom line.

"Sunday morning, I was getting off work and checking people out - and they said they would never come back to Virginia Beach again. So that's a bad thing," McClure says.

Mac was just one of many longtime workers in Virginia Beach that NewsChannel 3 spoke to - who compared this past weekend to Greekfest of 1989, when hundreds were arrested and rioters caused millions of dollars in damage.

Beach police have not yet told us how many were arrested - we are expecting those numbers to come in soon.